Tales of Asgard
by TailsLovesCosmo
Summary: Tales of Asgard! Home of the mighty Norse Gods! A series of stories based on Thor and other gods of Asgard.
1. Chapter 1

TALES OF ASGARD

Tales of Asgard! Home of the Mighty Norse Gods!

Story#1

"A Menace In Waiting!"

Two boys walked towards the outskirts of the city of Asgard. One was tall, already muscular, with long blonde hair. The other was thin, his black hair falling into his eyes. Both had swords at their sides, even though they were no more than twelve summers. The larger boy had a smile on his face, his younger brother, stepbrother actually, had a look as if he'd just bitten into something sour. He looked that way most of the time.

"You are certain the information you heard was right, Loki?" the larger boy asked.

"Would I lie to you, Thor?" the other boy said, hiding a smirk with his hand.

"Of course not," Thor said, placing his arm around Loki, who recoiled in disgust. "Are we not brothers? Comrades in arms?"

"Indeed," Loki said, ducking out from under Thor's arm. "And we should get on with our adventuring already, should we not?"

Thor started forward when he suddenly heard a voice in the distance. "Thor! Thor, wait!"

Loki laughed as Thor let out a sigh of impatience. "Your maiden fair approaches, brother."

Thor shook his head, coloring a little. "Don't call her that!" he said. "Certainly don't let _her_ hear you say that. Why doesn't she stay with the other girls and play with her dolls?"

"Because she'd much rather kiss the blonde son of Odin," Loki jibed, making a kissing face. Thor swatted at him but the smaller boy ducked. Loki wasn't much of a fighter, but he was quick and as difficult to catch as an eel.

Thor rolled his eyes as a girl a couple of years younger than he was raced up the hill and stopped, out of breath, before him.

"Where are you going, Thor?" she asked. "Are you going on an adventure? Can I come?"

"You?" Thor said, looking shocked. "You're a girl. Adventuring is for men!"

The girl, who had blondish-red hair, folded her arms angrily. "Girls can have adventures," she insisted. "What of your father's Valkyries?"

"Do you think you're a Valkyrie now?" Loki asked.

"As much as you think you're a hero of epics," the girl retorted.

"Have a care, girl!" Loki said, narrowing his eyes. "You speak to the son of Odin! I could have you flogged for that!"

Thor stepped between them. "Enough, both of you," he said. He turned towards the girl. "You couldn't go on an adventure, anyway, Sif. Look at you. No weapon and barefoot."

Sif looked pleadingly at Thor. "If I put on some shoes and get a sword from my brother, Heimdall, then may I go with you?"

She looked at him so sadly, that he couldn't say no to her, even though it annoyed him the way she was always tagging along after him.

"Well…" he said, at a loss for words.

That was all the encouragement Sif needed. She turned and ran back down the hill. "I'll be right back! Don't you go without me!"

Thor moaned. "So much for our adventure," he said. "She'll probably want to pick flowers and take them home."

Loki snorted. "You don't actually intend to wait until she gets back, do you?" he demanded. "While she is gone, let us away!"

Thor stared at his brother. "But I all but promised…"

"Indeed?" Loki said mockingly, looking back over his shoulder. "What promise reached thy lips? Loki heard only one word, 'Well.' That could mean anything or nothing."

Thor took a few steps after his brother. "But Sif will be very disappointed, and…"

Loki laughed. "Then remain and play dolls with your girlfriend," he said, heading for the forest. "Loki will tell you of his adventures when he returns."

Thor started after his brother, then stopped and looked back towards the field where he could see Sif still running. "If we go without her, she might tell her brother, and Heimdall may tell Father and he might be very cross with us."

"Ah, but if we take her along and she is injured, then how much crosser will they both be with us?" Loki pointed out. "Curse that girl!" he said to himself. "How can I lure Thor into a trap I have set with the trolls if she follows us about?

Thor finally nodded. "Very well then, let us go! Perhaps I will bring her flowers back when our adventure is over and she may forgive me."

Loki laughed as they entered the woods. "The lady Sif is nothing to you, eh? That is not what Loki sees!"

Thor flushed again. "Enough, brother!" he said. "She is but a friend." He looked around as the forest grew thicker, branches overhead blocking out much of the sunlight. "Have a care at any rate, Loki," he added. "We must needs be quiet and keep our eyes and ears open for enemies."

"Indeed we must," Loki said with a grin. "Indeed we must."

Meanwhile, Sif had returned home. She quickly put on a pair of shoes, then looked around her house, finally finding a sword. "There is no time to look for Heimdall and ask him for permission," she thought. "Thor might wait for me, but Loki would enjoy running off and leaving me, and Thor might go along with his brother. I don't know why he can't see how mean and nasty his brother is!"

Sif rushed from her home and ran to where she had seen them. She looked around, then made a face. "They _did_ leave me!" she cried. "Well fine for them! They think a girl can't have adventures? I'll go into the forest by myself and find one! That will show them!"

Sif walked through the forest, looking around for any sign of Thor or Loki. Now that she was actually in the woods, all alone, her courage began to fade.

"The forest is spookier than I thought it would be," she said, talking to try to keep up her courage. "But…but I am not afraid! Do you hear me, any evil forces that might be about? The goddess Sif is not afraid!"

"Then the goddess Sif is a fool!" came a voice beneath her. Sif screamed and jumped back, just as long skinny orange arms came up out of the ground.

"Trolls!" she screamed. She turned and ran. She had been hoping to fight a wild boar or even a timber wolf, but not a troll. In all of history, only the king of Asgard, Odin himself, had ever broken the unbreakable grip of a troll. Only jumping back in fear had saved her from already being caught. Looking back over her shoulder, she screamed again as she saw that three more trolls had joined the first one in chasing her. "If they catch me, they'll drag me underground and make me a slave forever!"

Loki growled softly. He had been hoping to lure Thor to where the four trolls he'd made a deal with were hiding underground. But his stepbrother had insisted on going the wrong way. "This way, Thor!" he insisted, pointing in the opposite direction from where Thor was headed. "This way!"

"There's a cave over this way," Thor called. "I saw it before but was in too great a hurry to explore it that day. But now…" He blinked at a faint sound. "What was that?"

"Just a bird," Loki said dismissively. But then he realized it came from the very direction he wished to get Thor to go. "But…perhaps we should go and see, brother." Loki made a face. He hated calling Thor that. After all, Thor wasn't really his brother, nor was Odin his father. Odin, in fact, had slain his true father, Laufey, king of the frost giants, and carried Loki home like a trophy. Oh, he claimed Loki was a son to him, but it was obvious that he liked his real son, Thor, much better. Well, once he'd gotten Thor out of the way, Loki would begin to plot the death of Odin and the conquest of Asgard by his people.

The sound came to them again. This time it was much clearer. "A scream!" Thor cried, hurrying past Loki. "A girl's scream!"

"Nonsense," Loki said. "What girl would be fool enough to come here?"

Thor's eyes grew wide. "Sif!" he cried. He ran full speed towards the sound. Loki grinned then began to lag behind. There was no point in hurrying, after all.

"So the foolish wench actually did follow us," Loki said, smirking. "And she's managed to lead Thor straight into my trap! Well, the trolls will be happy having two slaves instead of one. Run, 'brother!' Run to your doom!"

Thor reached a clearing just in time to see a troll holding a desperately struggling Sif. He sank into the ground, taking her with him. Thor leaped at him, but was too late. He struck the once again hard ground with a thud. Stunned, he looked up to see three more trolls grinning down at him.

"I am Thor, son of Odin, prince of eternal Asgard!" he cried, reaching for the sword he'd just dropped. If only he could use the hammer his father had promised to give him once he had accomplished enough good deeds. But Thor could only lift the hammer a few inches.

One of the trolls stepped on his sword hand. The three creatures pounced on the young Aesir, who struggled valiantly, but uselessly as they began to sink underground with him.

Loki arrived just in time to see Thor's head vanish into the ground. "Fare thee well, 'brother!'" Loki said. "I shall be certain to tell Odin and Heimdall that I tried my very best, but they left me for one dead and departed with you and your silly girlfriend."

Loki threw back his head and laughed uproariously.

To be continued!


	2. Chapter 2

TALES OF ASGARD!

Home of the Mighty Norse Gods!

Story#1, Part 2

"In the Land of the Trolls!"

Once underground, Thor and Sif had been dragged, still struggling, to a fast moving river of stinking black water and forced towards a boat.

"Get in," one of the trolls demanded.

"I won't!" Thor said, kicking the troll. The one holding him punched him in the face and threw him into the boat. Sif climbed into the boat, afraid to protest. The troll that had spoken pushed an oar into Thor's hands. "Row!" He pointed with a long skinny clawed orange finger. "That way!"

Thor threw the oar onto the bottom of the boat. "I will not!"

The troll picked him up and dangled him over the water. "Row, or I drop you in!"

Thor saw a fin heading towards the boat. "I am not afraid!" he said. "If I had my sword you'd wish you'd left us in peace!"

The troll started to throw him in, then seemed to think about it. He dropped Thor into the boat. "Very well then! Take the girl and throw her overboard!"

"No!" Sif cried as one of the trolls picked her up and held her over the water. The fin was almost directly beneath her.

"Stop!" Thor cried. "I'll row! Just don't hurt her!"

Sif huddled in back of the boat as Thor paddled the boat. The fin followed them. As they continued along the river they saw other fins and strange things in the water. The ground was dry and full of fissures from which choking smoke and steam arose. The air was filled with brimstone. Sif coughed.

Finally the lead troll ordered them to stop and get out of the boat. They were taken to a rock quarry. Thor was given a hammer. "Dig!"

"If I had my father's hammer instead of this one, you'd run screaming from me!" Thor said. The trolls laughed. Sighing, Thor began to dig.

Sif was dragged to where several ugly, deformed troll women were. They set her to work cooking over a large pot. She had to stand on a rock to look over the top of the pot. Steam hit her in the face. Her hair fell in her eyes as she worked.

Far away in imperial Asgard, Loki sauntered happily through the city. "I suppose I should go to the palace and tell Odin what has transpired," he said to himself. "Otherwise he may suspect something. And I am no where near ready to oppose his power yet!"

Loki stopped to ruffle his hair and toss some dust on himself. There. He looked reasonably enough as if he had been in a battle.

Some distance away, on the Rainbow Bridge, Bifrost, Heimdall, guardian of the Bridge, looked about, his sharp eyes seeing everything in Asgard, his keen ears hearing everything in the realm.

"Why is Loki brushing dust on himself?" Heimdall asked. "Very strange. Usually the boy is very fastidious about his appearance."

Thor wiped at his sweaty forehead. He'd lost track of how long he'd been working. In this underground land of no sun it was impossible to even guess if it was still day or night already.

Finally a disheveled figure walked up to him and handed him a wooden bowl with some thick, smelly stew in it. "Sif?" he said, looking at his friend. "What happened to you?"

Sif's hair, normally curly, was now stringy and covered half her face. Her face and dress were wet and sooty. One eye was badly discolored.

"It's terrible here, Thor!" she sobbed. "The troll wives make me do all the cooking while they gossip, and when I tried to sit down to rest one of them threw stew on me and struck me in the eye!" She looked at Thor with her good eye and gasped. "You look dreadful!" she added.

Thor was covered in dust from the yellow and orange rocks he had been smashing and carrying. His shirt was ripped and there were small cuts on his hands and a larger gash on his shoulder. But he forced himself to remain positive. "Fear not," he assured her, "they didn't take Loki, and he will hurry back to Father. Help must already be on the way."

Sif made a face. "If our freedom depends on Loki, then we are doomed!" she sobbed.

Thor placed his hand on her shoulder. "Nonsense," he insisted. "Loki is not much of a warrior, true, but he is quick and clever. And he is my brother, after all."

Sif looked away. "Oh, Thor…" she said.

Whatever else she might have said was never spoken. One of the trolls suddenly struck Thor.

"Get back to work, slave!" he was told. The troll glared at Sif. "And you! Back to the women, unless you'd like to join your boyfriend on the rock pile!"

"I'd rather work on the rock pile than with those witches!" Sif said. The troll slapped her, knocking her to the ground.

With a roar Thor sprang on his back and beat him upside the head with his hammer. As the troll fell, Thor grabbed Sif's hand and pulled her to her feet. "Run!" he cried.

The two of them raced desperately back to the boat. Behind them they could hear the other trolls yelling.

"They're getting away!" one shouted.

"They'll lead our enemies here!" yelled another.

"After them!" came the shout of a third.

Thor and Sif finally reached the boat. Thor helped Sif in then jumped in and grabbed the oar. He began to paddle. "Let us hope there are no more boats nearby for them to follow us with!" he said.

"I did not see any," Sif said, looking about the boat for some sort of weapon. She had lost her sword when she'd been dragged underground. She noticed a second oar and began paddling. Unfortunately, since Thor was much stronger than she was, her attempts to aid in their escape only caused the boat to begin to spin around in circles.

"Sif!" Thor cried. "Please do not help!"

Sif dropped the oar. "Sorry," she said. She sat down in the boat, pouting as Thor righted the boat and they started along the dark river.

The trolls reached the river and jumped up and down, yelling threats.

"They got away!" one yelled.

"A thousand curses on them!" cried a second.

"Hurry!" a third yelled. "There is another boat around that next bend!"

The trolls raced towards the other boat.

Sif watched nervously as a huge beaked head rose up out of the water and squawked loudly at them. She grabbed her oar again. "Get away from us!" she cried, waving the oar about wildly. "I'll beat you in the head!"

"Sit down and stop thrashing about," Thor said, "before you tip over the boat and send us in swimming with that creature."

Sif turned to look at Thor. As she did, the boat gave a sudden lurch. Off balance, Sif dropped the oar and flailed her arms wildly in a desperate attempt to keep from falling. Seeing this, Thor dropped his oar and reached for her. He grabbed her hand just as she was falling out of the boat into the water. Caught off balance, Thor went over the side of the vessel with her.

Thor's head broke above the water. "Now see what you've done!" he cried. He looked around. "Sif? Sif! Where are you?"

Then he heard a scream. He turned to see that she had landed by the weird birdlike reptile, and before Thor could do anything, it had swallowed her whole!

"NO!" Thor yelled. "Let her go!" Then the creature opened its huge beak again and came towards him. Thor swam to the boat and grabbed her oar. He turned and struck the creature. It crunched down on the oar, shattering it, then opened its beak again and leap out of the water towards Thor. Thor cried out as the beast's beak snapped shut on him.

To be continued!


	3. Chapter 3

TALES OF ASGARD!

Home of the Mighty Norse Gods!

Story#1, Part#3

"Danger and Lies"

Heimdall knew Loki was up to something, but as guardian of Bifrost, the mystic Rainbow Bridge, he couldn't leave his post to discover what. He determined, however, to send the next Asgardian he saw on the Bridge to find out what was going on for him.

He brooded as he waited. As a loyal subject of Odin's, he shouldn't doubt the All-Father's decisions, but he had never liked the idea of the king bringing home Laufey the frost giant king's infant son. Giants simply couldn't be trusted, no matter how young or small they were. And Loki had so far proven him right. Sullen, sarcastic, and far more interested in sorcery than swordplay like a normal boy, Loki had not long ago disturbed a quarterstaff duel by shattering the weapon of one warrior, all because Thor had bet that he would win his duel and Loki was angry that the one he had wagered on had been about to lose. No, Heimdall could see that no good would come from Loki.

Meanwhile, the great beast that had swallowed Thor and Sif continued to swim along the underground river. As it came up for air it let out a belch. Its hideous beaked face seemed to almost smile in contentment about the meal it had just had.

Inside of its belly, Sif huddled next to Thor, who was just sitting up. "It got you too!" she sobbed. "I never thought I'd end up a monster's supper!"

"Don't despair!" Thor said, leaning on the wall of the beast's stomach as he regained his footing. "I'll get us out of here."

"I don't think even Lord Odin could get us out of here!" Sif wailed. "I want to go home! I wish I'd followed you! I know you didn't want a girl tagging along with you anyway." She looked up at Thor, who was examining the inside of the monster's stomach. "Why don't you like me?"

"'Tis not that I don't like you," Thor assured her, running his hand along a rib. "But do you have to follow me all the time? You embarrass me in front of my brother."

Sif snorted. "Your brother," she said angrily. "You just refuse to see him the way others do."

"What do you mean by that?" Thor demanded, looking back over his shoulder. "Loki is…"

"A coward and a knave," Sif finished for him. She saw Thor's face cloud but was too miserable at the moment to stop. "Do you really think he likes you? Where was he when the trolls caught you? Why didn't he come to help you?"

"He fell behind when I was coming to your defense," Thor said, continuing to examine their prison in hopes of finding something, anything that would suggest a way for them to escape. He had no more desire to end up a meal for a monster than Sif did. But there was nothing here. Nothing except a few other things the creature had swallowed lately. The shattered piece of oar. Some fish that still flopped about nearby and some others that had already begun to rot and stunk horribly. If disgusting odors didn't affect the fish/bird thing, then what would?

"He probably ran all the way home and hid under his bed," Sif said. "Why hasn't your father sent help yet if Loki told him we were captured? We must have worked for hours before we escaped." She sighed. "Escaped to become dinner…"

"No!" Thor insisted, hitting the beast's side with his first. "I will not accept such an ignoble fate!" He struck it with his other fist. "I am Thor, son of Odin, ruler of Asgard, and I will not be a monster's dinner!"

"But you already are," Sif pointed out. "We both are."

"No!" Thor cried again. "I'll get you out of here! So swears the son of Odin!" He had walked over to where she was huddled, knees up to her chin and arms wrapped around her legs. To his surprise she suddenly stood and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"When you say it I believe it's possible," she said.

Thor's face felt very warm. "Uh…that is…nice to hear," he said, struggling to get free without hurting her. While Sif was as strong as a boy, and had more than once proved it by wrestling a sneering Loki to the ground, Thor was already nearly as strong as a grown warrior, perhaps because he was the son of Odin, whose powers seemed beyond measure. Before she could walk Sif had heard the story of how Odin had used his magic sword to chop a mountain in two with a single blow during his primordial battle with Ymir the ice giant.

Thor again looked over the items in the monster's stomach. Not much to work with except…He stooped and picked up some pieces of wood. From the shattered oar. Since the beast had swallowed it, and them, while its head was out of water, the wood wasn't wet. If only he had a piece of flint, he could try to start a fire. But there were other ways to make a blaze. More difficult and time consuming certainly, but he wasn't exactly going anywhere. He set to work.

After a few minutes of watching, Sif approached him. "What are you doing?" she asked, curious.

"Attempting to start a fire," Thor explained, continuing to rub two pieces of wood together. If he had a bow it would be easier, but perhaps a little smoke would be enough.

Sif's eyebrows raised. "Why would you want to start a fire in here?" she asked incredulously, wondering if Thor had so quickly given up all hope and was simply attempting to kill the monster before he died.

"Perhaps we could make the beast cough and sneeze, giving us a chance to escape," he suggested. "If we simply attempted to run out when it opened its toothy maw it would either crush us with those fangs or catch us again before we could swim a few strokes. But if it is more concerned with other things than you and I perhaps we will have a hope of winning through to freedom."

Sif smiled. It was amazing how calm Thor had remained despite their dilemma. His courage and unwillingness to surrender were starting to make her believe he really could get them both out.

It seemed to take hours, and once the beast opened its mouth and took in water. Thor quickly held up the pieces of wood out of harm's way as brackish waves washed over them. The water was greasy and made Sif's skin crawl. But Thor ignored it and continued his work.

Finally smoke rose from the wood, and then a spark, then another. Thor headed towards the mouth, found the passage to the thing's nose, and waved the smoke into its nostrils.

"Sif!" he cried. "Bring me more wood!"

"But the rest is all wet," she argued, picking up a soggy piece. "It won't burn."

"It should still smoke good," he argued. "And we must keep it going as long as possible."

Sif didn't ask him what would happen if it went out. This was their only hope of survival. She brought him a few more pieces of wood. The creature must have snapped up another oar of a mast or something in the recent past since there was more wood than what little it could have bitten off while Thor was fighting it.

Suddenly the smoky wood caught fire. "Sif! Now!" Thor called.

Sif added the wood to the fire, noticing that Thor was holding the wood up in his bare hands. "Thor!" she cried. "Your hands are getting all burned!"

"If we escape my hands can be quickly tended to," Thor said, his face twisted with pain, perspiration dripping down his face. "If not…" He didn't finish. He didn't need to. If this didn't get them out, a few burns wouldn't matter because the two of them would soon be killed by the beast's digestive fluids.

The creature squawked as its nostrils filled with smoke. It opened its mouth wide and attempted to scratch the roof of its mouth with one great claw.

Thor stuffed the still smoking wood up one huge nostril then grabbed Sif's hand. "Now!" he cried, racing towards the mouth. "Watch the claw!"

Thor and Sif leaped over the huge claw and climbed over its giant teeth. "Take a deep breath and dive deep underwater!" Thor cried as the two of them leaped from the top of its teeth. The water was cold and repulsive to the touch, and swift enough moving that it nearly tore their hands apart. Thor squeezed Sif's hand tight to keep from being separated from her. She made a face, since his grip was very strong, but held on and dived under with him. The water was too murky to see anything, and they had to only hope that the bird creature wouldn't be able to find them. The problem of course was that it was only one of many monstrous creatures, any of which might swallow them next, perhaps this time not without biting and chewing on them first.

Something large and rough scraped against Sif's leg. She froze, certain that some huge monster was about to devour her. Whatever it was, it seemed to continue on its way. Sif would have sighed with relief if she wasn't holding her breath.

Thor suddenly struck something hard that nearly knocked the air out of his aching lungs. A rock. Feeling along the stone with one hand while holding onto Sif with the other, he decided to chance rising to the ceiling. He came up, taking a deep breath, and shook the hair out of his eyes. "Sif!" he gasped. "Are you all right?"

Sif spit out water right in his face and began to cough. "What are…cough…cough…you trying…cough…to do…cough…drown me?" she managed to gasp.

Thor pulled her up so that she was able to grab the rock and climb out onto shore. She collapsed on the broken orange-yellow ground as Thor pulled himself up and sank to the ground beside her.

Once they'd caught their breath, they looked around. "This looks no different than where we were before!" Sif cried. "There are probably more trolls about, just waiting to capture us!"

"I will not be enslaved again!" Thor insisted, punching one palm with the other fist. "Next time the son of Odin shall fight back!"

"I don't want to fight anymore," Sif said. "I don't want adventure. I just want to go home."

"I promised I would see you safely home," Thor reminded her. "And I shall. Trust in me."

Sif squeezed his hand. "I do trust in you," she said, looking into his eyes. "But I am tired and cold and frightened and wet and I hate this place!"

"Fear not," Thor said. "I am certain Loki will have gotten aid by this time."

Sif sighed. If Loki was getting help he was certainly taking his time about it.

On the Rainbow Bridge Bifrost, Heimdall's keen eyes picked out Balder, a boy about Thor's age, riding his horse. Heimdall waited until he came within shouting distance, then called, "Ho! Balder! I would speak with thee!"

Balder urged his horse to canter up to the guardian. Reaching him, he pulled back at the mount's reins. "Whoa!" he cried. He jumped from his saddle and bowed. "I am at thy service, noble Heimdall. How may I serve thee?"

"Loki doth behave strangely," Heimdall said. "I fear he may be plotting some mischief."

Balder looked about him, then remembered that he was speaking to Heimdall, who's eyes could see anywhere. "I am ready to ride in defense of the Realm Eternal and my friend Thor," he said. "Where shall I find Loki?"

Heimdall looked towards the city. "I see he is approaching the All Father," he said tensely. "He has been behaving strangely. I do not know what his plans are, but I can find Thor nowhere in all of Asgard. Nay, and not my sister, Sif, either."

Balder stared at the guardian. "Loki is a coward and a sneak," he said, "but surely he would not harm his own brother or your sister."

"I see an unpleasant smile on his normally sullen face," Heimdall added. "Make haste, brave Balder! I do not know what has taken place, but I am very suspicious."

Balder bowed again, then leaped onto his horse and galloped at full speed towards the great city.

Loki, meanwhile, had finally reached Odin's presence. He bowed and said, "Dear Father, your son wishes to speak with thee." How the taste of those words disgusted him. But he forced himself to appear humble, even frightened.

Odin, who had been listening to the information brought to him by his two ravens, Hugin and Munin, looked up at Loki's words. "Speak on, my son," he said. "Odin is listening."

"Oh, Father," Loki moaned, "the most terrible thing has happened to my poor brother, Thor…"

Odin stared at him. "Thor?" he roared suddenly, his face twisting in anger. "What has happened to my son? Art deaf? Speak!"

Loki clenched his fists in anger. His son. As if he only had the one. Yes, there was no doubt that Odin's claims to consider Loki a son were only talk to impress the other gods. Loki forced himself to continue his rehearsed lie.

"What?" Odin cried before he had quite finished. "My son, captured by trolls?"

"I did the best I could to aid him," Loki insisted, "but they overcame me and left me dazed on the ground. No doubt they thought me dead. Once I recovered I hurried back here with all due haste, my lord."

But Odin was no longer listening. He struck a gong, bringing several guards. "Ready my steed and send for Haakun the Hunter!" he ordered. "Make haste! Art thy feet bolted to the floor?" The guards hastened to obey.

As Odin hurried away towards the royal stables, Loki glared after him. Odin would pay for dismissing him without so much as a backward glance! Oh, how he would pay!

Meanwhile, Thor and Sif, dripping wet, attempted to find their way out of the troll tunnels. Neither of them had the slightest idea where they were going, however, since they had lost all sense of direction while in the beast's belly and the water.

Suddenly they heard paddling. They looked at each other. "A boat!" Sif cried. Thor placed his hand over her mouth.

"Hush," he said softly. "It could be help, but more likely 'tis the trolls searching for us!"

He led Sif to a large orange boulder and they ducked behind it just before a boat containing three trolls passed by where they were.

"Find them!" one of the trolls cried. "This time instead of making them work we'll toss them into the stewpot!"

Thor and Sif didn't dare move or make a sound as they waited, hoping the trolls would keep going. Then Thor remembered how the water had dripped from them when they'd pulled themselves out of the river. Just as he recalled this, the lead troll yelled, "Look! Someone climbed out of the river over there! To shore! We'll catch them yet!"

Thor squeezed Sif's hand tightly. "Run!" he said. And they ran.

At last help is on the way for Thor and Sif. But will it be in time?

To be continued


End file.
